Selfish how? The guy has posted better than a 3.00 GAA or 89% save percentage over the past two seasons. Honestly, if the alternative had been somebody more prominent than Ty Conklin last year, he probably never even gets the chance to play in the '09 Playoffs.

And from a fan's perspective, this thing is only going to get worse and worse with time. Osgood turns 38 in November. If he left after this season (and Howard plays well in the playoffs), there's a good chance much of this will be forgotten and he'll be remembered primarily as the winner of the 1998 and 2008 Cups, and a potential Hall of Fame candidate, based on his overall credentials. If I had the choice, I don't want to see another season where Osgood plays once a month, sucks, and then complains about inconsistent playing time again. I don't want to see this thing turn more sour.

Why do people forget that he complained about the fact Babcock was keeping BOTH goaltenders on the bench for extended periods of time?

Osgood wasn't complaining that HE wasn't getting starts, he was complaining that Babcock was not efficiently playing the goaltenders. Should he have been quiet? Yes. Was he being selfish? Absolutely not.

I may need some help with #4, but honestly, I think all 5 of those items are just plain WRONG! Hate to rag on a fellow out-of-market fan b/c I know how hard it can be to watch the games sometimes, but he has been one of the worst goalies in the NHL in the past two regular seasons. Yes, he was terrific in last year's playoffs, but it's Howard's job now, and we wouldn't even be close to playoff contention had Osgood played all year. A $1.4 million cap hit for a backup goalie who can't even be trusted to handle the one the games in a back-to-back is NOT a good deal.

On point #3, that has traditionally been true, though I think Osgood in front of a mediocre defense (which is what we've had this year) is not capable of the same level of play we saw in 2008 or even in the '09 Playoffs.

On point #5, just because Osgood leaves (by trade, retirement, whatever), doesn't mean we couldn't find a Ty Conklin-type guy for half the price that could handle like 15-25 games next season. It doesn't have to be either Larsson or McCollum, if the Wings don't believe either of those guys is ready.

#4 is true as long as you know anything about how the salary cap works. 'Sup capgeek.com?

Also, you realize that Ty Conklin gets $1.3M and is a backup, right? Consider too that Osgood has also been credited heavily by Howard for his success this year in a mentorship role. No other goalie in the NHL can really provide that (playoff success and mental resilience, things that Howard has very little of).

$1.4M is also better than the $5.6M that the Hawks pay their "backup", Huet.

And as a final point, $1.4M isn't bad at all for a goalie, especially when our starter is only getting $716k. We're still paying BOTH of our goalies less than half of what the Hawks' "backup" is getting, and I'd much rather have that than the alternative.

Are you kidding? Block you? And miss watching you stumble around the forum looking for an argument like a dog sniffing butts? It would be like turning off a bad episode of Jerry Springer. You know you shouldn't be watching, but you just... can't... help... it...

It will all depend on Howie performs in the playoffs. And if Ozzie doesn't play and he knows he won't get much playing time next year he just may retire. Holland and Ozzie are close so who knows what will happen.

I hate polls like this, because they don't take into account all the factors - he was signed after 35, so if we cut ties, we're sucking up cap space to make a player go away... he has had an OBVIOUSLY positive impact on Howard and one more year backing up Howard can't hurt... after his contract is up, let him retire a Wing, with 400 wins, on his own terms and go out right... he has been a professional and done a lot for this team and deserves it.

He'll be back, for loyalty, for cap reasons. The only way he leaves is if he wants to leave and asks to be traded.

I honestly think now that we know what we have with Howard, and the fact that next season we hopefully won't be fighting such ridiculous bad luck and injuries, Osgood will get more consistent starts.

It's not Osgood's fault that Babcock needed to rely on Howard because the team was so terrible for most of this year. Next year when they get a fresh start he'll be a backup still but it'll be split more evenly like it was intended to be this year. You can't get any better than Osgood for his price, and if given the chance to play semi-regularly he'll get his game back and be the best possible backup in the league.

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I think detroit should go for carey price now that they obviously gonna roll with Halak and price's tradevalue is far from what it was before... Filppula+pick for Price... GET ER DONE... Price would look like a wall behind the detroit defense and selke-forwards...howard would be a decent backup.

I think detroit should go for carey price now that they obviously gonna roll with Halak and price's tradevalue is far from what it was before... Filppula+pick for Price... GET ER DONE... Price would look like a wall behind the detroit defense and selke-forwards...howard would be a decent backup.

Are you high?!? Price is going to get at least 2.5 mil on his next deal and Howard has been STELLAR...why would he back up? Add that to the fact that you want to give up a NOT EVEN PRIME Flip AND a pick... there's not an ounce of logic behind this thought... this is easily one of the most hair-brained suggestions I have ever read on this board and there have been a lot of them...

I'm thinking why not use the spare million's from lidstrom's new contract on a goalie that can steal games and is young and has excellent technique (with better rebound control than howard, can use a goalie stick and has great positioning, all the flaws that howard has he doesn't has)

I'm thinking why not use the spare million's from lidstrom's new contract on a goalie that can steal games and is young and has excellent technique (with better rebound control than howard, can use a goalie stick and has great positioning, all the flaws that howard has he doesn't has)

You should go back and watch some of the early Howard games this season. His rebound control has improved dramatically.

Howard is worth every penny we pay him, and if he continues to improve, I see no reason why he won't be a primary goalie for a long time.

I voted yes, unless he really doesn't want to play hockey anymore he should ask for a trade, and even if that means playing in the AHL, if he wants to play he should be happy.

My call for next year he'll play about 10-20 games for the wings next year in nearly identical fashion as this year, and retire. I just think it's sad that he will almost surely allow things to play out that way.

I hate polls like this, because they don't take into account all the factors - he was signed after 35, so if we cut ties, we're sucking up cap space to make a player go away... he has had an OBVIOUSLY positive impact on Howard and one more year backing up Howard can't hurt... after his contract is up, let him retire a Wing, with 400 wins, on his own terms and go out right... he has been a professional and done a lot for this team and deserves it.

I'm thinking why not use the spare million's from lidstrom's new contract on a goalie that can steal games and is young and has excellent technique (with better rebound control than howard, can use a goalie stick and has great positioning, all the flaws that howard has he doesn't has)

And what should the Wings do with Osgood in that scenario? It's unlikely anyone would trade for him, and if he retires or gets waived, his salary still counts against the cap. So there goes a good chunk of any spare millions from Lidstrom's new contract.

Even if a team were interested in Ozzy, I think it would essentially have to be somewhere Osgood would want to go to play. After all his years in Detroit, it sets a bad example if Holland were to trade him somewhere he didn't want to go.

So if Osgood retires or is waived, that's over a million dollars down the toilet.

This starts to get a little beyond my understanding of the CBA, but I thought since he signed when he was older than 35, any buyout still counts against the cap. Like no matter what the situation is other than a trade, if he's older than 35, the team has to eat the cap hit.

It's 2/3rds, over twice the remaining years on the contract. So they would be on the hook for about $500K for the next two years just to not have Osgood on the team, and therefore paying any replacement more than $1M would result in a net loss of cap space.

"We've been in the same spot all year long. We won 50 games for the fourth year in a row. People think we're just hum-drum and boring. No, you know what we are, we're good. You can't do what we do every single day and not be good." - Mike Babcock

This starts to get a little beyond my understanding of the CBA, but I thought since he signed when he was older than 35, any buyout still counts against the cap. Like no matter what the situation is other than a trade, if he's older than 35, the team has to eat the cap hit.

Not positive though.

I know that is true for retirements. I imagine it would be the same or else no one would retire they would just get bought out instead.

It's 2/3rds, over twice the remaining years on the contract. So they would be on the hook for about $500K for the next two years just to not have Osgood on the team, and therefore paying any replacement more than $1M would result in a net loss of cap space.

I think detroit should go for carey price now that they obviously gonna roll with Halak and price's tradevalue is far from what it was before... Filppula+pick for Price... GET ER DONE... Price would look like a wall behind the detroit defense and selke-forwards...howard would be a decent backup.

This is easily the most imbecilic trade suggestion I've seen on these boards in six months.

I'm thinking why not use the spare million's from lidstrom's new contract on a goalie that can steal games and is young and has excellent technique (with better rebound control than howard, can use a goalie stick and has great positioning, all the flaws that howard has he doesn't has)

You're so clueless and spoiled that you can't ever appreciate what the Wings have. They have an excellent package in Howard, but you pretty much think he sucks---or, rather, you think that anyone on the team who is not perfect should be traded, and you think that the team's purpose should be to play perfectly so that you don't have to suffer the anguish (sarc) of seeing them ever lose.